London boroughs, universities, and NHS trusts team up to share WiFi

An array of public-sector organisations have united to offer users ‘seamless’ connectivity

A range of councils, NHS trusts, and universities in London have teamed up in a bid to provide “seamless” WiFi connectivity for their staff and students.

The Connectivity over London scheme will see a total of 13 public bodies uniting to share the wireless bandwidth they are provided by the Govroam and eduroam services. Participating organisations include the borough councils for Brent, Camden, Haringey, Islington, and Lewisham, as well as two NHS trusts: Royal Brompton and Harefield, and Lewisham and Greenwich.

The University of London is also taking part, as is Imperial College, Queen Mary University of London, and City, University of London. The London Grid for Learning community of technology-friendly schools and local authorities is also participating, as is the Local Government Association.

The aim of Connectivity over London is to allow staff and students from all of these organisations to log on and “access the internet securely in hundreds of new public-sector locations around London”.

The scheme was co-founded by a trio of technology leaders: Omid Shiraji of Camden Council; Claire Priestley of City; and Stuart Brown of the University of London.

Priestley said: “This concept is such a simple one; as CIOs and IT leaders across London, we all have the infrastructure and, for minimal investment and effort, we can make a real improvement in the experience for our users.

Shiaraji added: “Here is a great example of how a simple collaboration between digital leaders across sector boundaries can make an incredible difference to the way our staff and our students are able to work in London.”

Trials of the project have already taken place with the police and charity sector and, in the future, the scheme hopes to broaden out to include Transport for London and the Fire Brigade.